RELIGION AND FASHION: THE POLITICS OF DRESS (RAHR-8420)
(01/31/2022-05/20/2022)
Course Memo
Is there a relationship between religion and fashion? Can a study of dress and fashion be approached academically? Do fashion and dress play a role in the global economy and the worsening of climate conditions? How we define beauty? These questions and others aim to introduce students to the interconnection between dress and religion, and questions of identity, class, gender, and race. The way we dress, adorn our bodies, style our hair, or cover it are all ways to represent and transform our social identities and assert our position and self-image in the world. Dress and fashion are performative and political. The study of dress is an expansive inquiry warranting an interdisciplinary approach drawing on postcolonial and feminist theories and methodologies across various disciplines such as art history, anthropology, cultural studies and women’s and gender studies. We will explore fashion as a sartorial practice through course readings and visual materials and analyze the power dynamics, privilege, inequity, and exploitation inherent in the industry. We will learn about the religious role of dress in performing rituals and practice. Along the way, we will discuss many related issues: cultural appropriation, fast fashion, sustainability, and climate change, probing beyond the visible and apparent. By the end of the course, students will have engaged with literature produced across various disciplines to help them theorize and conceptualize this ubiquitous yet often overlooked aspect of culture. This course is taught by PhD student Reem Kosba with a Newhall Award, under the supervision of Kathryn Barush. [Faculty Consent required; Auditors with Faculty Permission]